Intel Scores A Huge Win, Will Build Chips For A High-End Samsung Tablet

Intel CEO Paul Otellini
speaks during his keynote address at the Intel Developers Forum
in San Francisco, California September 13,
2011.REUTERS/Robert
Galbraith

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics has chosen an Intel
Corp processor to power a new version of one of its top-tier
Android tablets, a source with knowledge of the plans told
Reuters, in a major victory for the U.S. chipmaker, which is
struggling to find its footing in the mobile market.

Samsung has chosen Intel's Clover Trail+ mobile chip for at least
one version of its Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, which competes with Apple
Inc's iPad, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on
Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the
specifications have not been announced.

Samsung has previously used chips designed with energy-efficient
technology from the UK's ARM Holdings for its best-selling mobile
devices. It employs Intel processors for its line of Microsoft
Windows "ATIV" tablets -- a much smaller market compared with
devices based on Google Inc's Android.

Samsung will unveil new ATIV tablets using Intel chips at a June
20 event in London, said the source, as well as an additional
person familiar with the event. It was unclear whether the Galaxy
Tab would debut at the same event.

The Asian electronics giant's decision to begin using Intel in a
marquee Android device counts as a coup for the US chipmaker as
it races to establish itself in a mobile market it was slow
initially to recognize and invest in.

It was unclear whether the Samsung, the world's largest
manufacturer of tablets after Apple, plans other versions of the
10-inch Galaxy Tab carrying its own, or other companies',
processors.

A spokeswoman for South Korea-based Samsung declined to comment.
An Intel spokesman also declined to comment.

The use of an Intel Clover Trail+ chip in the upcoming tablet was
first reported on by VentureBeat and other blogs last week.

Intel has called the shots in the personal computer industry for
decades, but was slow to make chips that appealed to makers of
smartphones and tablets as the market boomed following Apple's
iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010.

Applications processors based on technology from ARM and designed
by Qualcomm Inc, Samsung and Nvidia now dominate a market that
research firm Strategy Analytics estimated could hit $25 billion
by 2016 versus $9 billion in 2011.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who took the helm this month, has
stated that one of his top goals is to expand the Silicon Valley
chipmaker's footprint in mobile devices.

Intel is rushing to adapt its powerful PC chips to use less
energy and work more efficiently in mobile devices. It has so far
scored a few minor "design wins", getting its processors into a
few mobile devices.

For instance, an Intel mobile processor was used in a version of
Motorola's Razr smartphone launched last year in markets like
Argentina, Brazil, Britain, France, Germany and Mexico. Intel has
yet to launch chips capable of supporting high-speed Long Term
Evolution technology, a major barrier to competing in mobile
devices aimed at the United States, where the standard is
becoming increasingly common.

Samsung has nearly 18 percent of the market for tablets,
according to IDC.

(Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim in Seoul; Editing by Leslie
Adler and David Gregorio)